Munkar: A weak report opposing a reliable report

1. In this lesson

Attributing a statement to the Prophet ﷺ differs from reporting it as Ibn ʿAbbās's statement. This is the difference in the example.

It will help explain munkar: a weak narrator's report opposing a thiqah—a reliable narrator's report.

2. The definition of munkar

A weak narrator's report opposing a reliable narrator's report is called munkar.

• The narrator is weak.
• The report opposes a reliable report.

1. Weak: weakness here concerns transmission, not physical strength.

3. An attribution example

مَنْ أَقَامَ الصَّلَوٰةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَوٰةَ وَحَجَّ الْبَيْتَ وَصَامَ رَمَضَانَ وَقَرَى الضَّيْفَ دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ (Tabarani: 12692)
Meaning: Whoever establishes prayer, gives zakat, performs Hajj to the House, fasts Ramadan and entertains the guest will enter Paradise.

This version attributed to the Prophet ﷺ is studied here as an example of munkar.

4. The relevant transmission sequence

• Ḥabīb ibn Ḥabīb narrated from Abū Isḥāq.
• Abū Isḥāq narrated from al-ʿAyzār ibn Ḥurayth.
• Al-ʿAyzār ibn Ḥurayth narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās.
• In this version, the report from Ibn ʿAbbās is attributed to the Prophet ﷺ.

This is the relevant portion of the chain, not the complete chain.

5. Marfūʿ and mawqūf

• A report attributed to the Prophet ﷺ is marfūʿ here.
• A report presented as a Companion's statement is mawqūf here.

The other narrators, apart from Ḥabīb ibn Ḥabīb, transmitted this as Ibn ʿAbbās's statement. This is the mawqūf version.

1. Ibn ʿAbbās: the Companion ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās is meant.

6. Why this version is munkar

Al-Haythamī described Ḥabīb ibn Ḥabīb as weak. His report here opposes the other reliable transmission: the others reported Ibn ʿAbbās's statement; he attributed it to the Prophet ﷺ.

• The mawqūf report stopping at Ibn ʿAbbās is maʿrūf here.
• The marfūʿ version attributed to the Prophet ﷺ is munkar here.

Abū Zurʿah also called it munkar and explained that it is mawqūf from Ibn ʿAbbās.

7. Not every marfūʿ report is munkar

Marfūʿ identifies whom a report is attributed to; the label alone does not establish soundness.

Here the reason is not simply attribution to the Prophet ﷺ, but a weak narrator opposing reliable transmission.

Likewise, being mawqūf alone does not make every report maʿrūf.

8. Summary

• Under the taught definition, a weak narrator's report opposing a reliable report is munkar.
• In the example, others reported Ibn ʿAbbās's statement; Ḥabīb ibn Ḥabīb attributed it to the Prophet ﷺ.
• Here mawqūf is maʿrūf and marfūʿ is munkar; this is not a universal rule for those labels.